The Barrel Part II

 The wind has abated but there was hail as well as rain yesterday so I was not ready for the selvage job. Today however has calmed and the aftermath was visible on the beach. It seems a boat or yacht has come afoul of that weather, as we went looking for the barrel.  It had moved  20 metres but we also found the remains of a washing machine and a large section of rubber matting that has been ripped from the deck. This stuff has screws both sides every 4 cm for its entire length of 6 metres. It must have been some wind to get that loose.  The barrel was bad enough to get up the hill but we went back for the matting as we could not leave it bouncing in the water, especially with sharp screws.  I have seen this sort of thing before and if you don't get it in a floating state then next time it will be buried under a lot of sand.  That's my workout for today.

Windy Winter Wakeup

 It was around 1:00am and the clattering and battering had been going on for an hour or so. Is that our gate or rubbish bin or something else pinballing around the yard?  So after getting up and checking around, everything seemed to be in place, so someone down the street had not battened down their hatches.  It was blowy but we have had worse, like when the tiles went flying off the neighbours roof. I took a short video of some inconsistent incoming inclemency.  These blow through fairly quickly but there were a few of them. 

boat

The Falls

 This is a Detective Rebus whodunit by Sir Ian Rankin.  You can tell the time it was written (around 2000) by the state of the technology used in the book, eg phones not having their own connection to the internet but needing to be attached to a computer, etc.  The first Rebus TV show started the same year (2000) and SBS are now running a rebooted version with a younger Rebus (2024).  I assume  "The Falls" gets a mention somewhere in there.  There are true elements to this story such as the small coffins with doll like figures, found on Arthur's Seat in 1836. It's clever how the true elements are wound into a made up yarn.

Over a Barrel Part 1

 I was going to ride but the wind at the moment is putting me off. I knew there would be a build up of flotsam on the beach so I switched tack and got out my rubbish bag.  There was no shortage of stuff. My bag was chockers with rubbish just with the first pass.  Plenty of the usual wrappers, lids and plastics plus a bucket. I also spied a large barrel that had broken free from the oyster farm. This one was empty but still awkward to move especially with a full bag in the other hand.  It needs to be moved the length of the beach to get it near the bin however I only got it part of the way back.  Maybe someone else will tagteam its move. Surely the fish farmers can spy their barrels on the shore.

just move it the whole beach length and up the hill at the end

Tongue Twister

Not much happening today with this Winter blast to send us on our way. I checked the forecasts and there is nothing but low temperatures and black clouds for a week. It did not stop me going back to the dentist who now says I have done a good job with the few actual bits of tooth I have left, as the rest is artificial.  I did not think checkups included your tongue but I bit into mine a while back and he has noticed the scarring. So I have to report on the healing progress in three weeks time. This is definitely a slow day.

  

Mainly Maintenance

 We have finally reached the end of the maintenance jobs.  It was around 4 days work but spread over a month long period.  The quality is there but the timing was all over the place. Today the wind and rain have reminded us, Winter is not yet finished, but in some ways it was a good day to get the final paint layers on new doors, door jambs and fences. The paint went on early and was dry in minutes with that wind hitting us.  This house must be 30 yar old but with exposure to the Bay you need to keep one eye on the woodwork.  

Surface Tension means the bottom of these slats will continue to hold on to water, so having cut off the rot, the gap is increasing.  In ten years there will be room for planter boxes if we cut any more off.

Snap Send Solve

 Dog walkers know all the backways and byways for walking without necessarily having a lot of other pedestrian traffic.  Bullimah Creek is one of these but there has been a build up of silt, rubbish and flotsam over time.  I would not have believed this if I did not see it but there is a website called Snap Send Solve where merely taking a photo and submitting via this site, will get action from your council.  After being alerted, the council had trucks and diggers in there within two weeks. This site works Australia wide. Your rates at work.  

cleaned and preened

purple foliage

trout snack

Bay Action Time

 Another sign that Winter is on the way out is when boaters start boating and yachts start yachting. I have seen increased activity particularly with yachts making there way in for one or two night stays.  Surely the wind has to be a low factor for a better nights sleep. Mind you the only sleeping I have done on the water is in much bigger ships, floating palaces even. There were also a few races recently where I got a short clip of duelling spinakers.  

Paddle Practice

 It's not the same when sitting on concrete but at least we know that the sizing will work.  Asher is the ideal shape and leg length however Kaia needs to do a growth spurt. The two handed stroke seems to be working as well so now we just need to get some lifejackets and some water. A lot of it.  The local park had views of the water but that was as close as we got.  Does not matter how small the equipment is it will keep them busy for an hour at least.

Wellness Centre

 There is a wellness centre here which is the quiet oasis. There was a 2 hr gap between the assessment check and the medical appointment. So we have done the walk around Fawkner Park already and also had some lunch all before sitting in the chair. One think I noticed was a derelict  church which has been propped up and maybe is being rebuilt. Back here, the dose for the first time is a double, at 400mm. Only six more to go after this. It seems they have removed the appointment and now have put it back. There is always something but hopefully the dose is ready.  Number five still alive.

I tried auto erase in bottom right to get some stray kids out. Seems clunky.

Running in Water

 There is a cause for every day of the year and today is cancer day in Victoria at least. There seems to be a few different cancer days. One of the suggested things is going for a dunk where ever you are in the closest water source.  Well I tried the Winter water waltz again and this time broke into a jog.  It is the biggest Winter  session I've had even pausing to get a golf ball or two. I can also report that there are sections where it is very soft. Like immediately sinking up to shin deep where there are banks of eroded old sea grass.  I must have travelled two hundred metres this time emerging with reddish legs, which took an hour to get back to normal.

also watch out for rocks close in

CoastCare Dare

 I dare anyone to take a group of kids into an overgrown patch and get them to pull some weeds.  I saw a few parents who tried this and I am not sure how much got pulled.  There was a group who had detached themselves and was doing some serious scrub cutting. The group gathered at the back of the bowls club so it was a fair walk to the weedy ground.  There is still a lot of dried seagrass and grass balls around and also washed up puffers, those spikes are nasty.  My walk was around 3km with two detours to partially fill very large holes dug by enthusiastic dogs. One of my neighbours complained she almost fell into one.  So todays hazard lesson watch out for holes, balls and spikes.

coastcare

Victorian bath enclosure

Ribs

 I have found it. The best, tastiest meal within a hop, step and a jump.   Occasionally we need to eat out on a Monday but often restaurants are closed as they have their weekly break then.  So we don't bother however after a days travelling we stopped at the local to see what was on the menu. A large sign declares that Monday is ribs night. I am only a recent convert to ribs in the last five or six years and now if I spy them I try them.  These were simmering away for 18 hours and although it looks to be a huge pile the amount is manageable. 

Blooming Pickup

 The Minister for Home Affairs will be back today so I am doing a paths and beds floral cleanup. I defy anyone to say that no maintenance has been done.  Just to be sure I went across to the beach and did a pickup down there as well. There has been some wind but nothing major blew in with it, so the usual small items were scattered, like plastic lids and rope pieces.  The lemon trade has been steady so I got another eight lemons down to fill the basket out front.  Those possums have been at the tree again as well. I guess it's better than reckless roof romping. I found a lemon completely scoured of its rind, not a scrap left. 

rindless

all clear

flower shower

Blog Statistics

 Towards the end of last year I went passed 100,000 page views which took 10 years of blogging to get to, yet in the 6 months since then there have been another 50,000 views added.  This is mostly from automated web crawlers and trawlers and dedicated Bot programs but I can't help thinking the acceleration is due to something new poking around and its name is most likely AI.  There are serious bloggers who do more than my daily rambling about stuff around here where it does not matter who actually is viewing me. However if I was to start a detailed blog on stamps say (which there are many already out there) and where you started earning a payment then I would not want the likes of Copilot summarising my hard work and presenting it to a potential customer who most likely does not know about the source.  Mind you I have got a diagram below and have no idea from where it came but they obviously don't care either, as there is no embedded acknowledgment. You can't stop the tech.

Click graph for a better read

Collendina Report No 744

 I used to do updates on the the state of play at Collendima but seeing we don't have a van there any more these reports have mostly disappeared. However I got the inside info from Hostyle the longtime resident who is always in the know from insider sources, such as the gardener.  It is well documented that since the sale of the park the new owners have managed to double the annual fees and it has taken just three years to do it.  Hostyle wanted to know what the latest 22% increase gets them for their money with no apparent change in the park. The answer was a kid friendly zone where the current tennis courts are.  The real bad news is that the increases in fees will continue and the aim is to remove the current three tiered system eg smaller vans paying a lower rate up to the largest vans being the most expensive.  Management want one price only which requires everyone to move to the highest charge no matter what size of van you have. No wonder the park is half empty now.

This is a jug of coffee

Neuschwanstein Castle

 The windy weather has blown in a bit but I wanted to test the replaced tooth with some bicycle exertion.  Cold air was giving me some trouble but now that the nerve is covered, it is back to normal. I have been working on a puzzle for a few weeks.  Winter is coming to the end so I am making this the last one, as it has also proven to be the puzzler. Previously I have worked thru areas of sky or water however this puzzle has a large slab of forest which is tricky.  I will need another few hours for this.

Lemons & lawns

 It took all morning to get the cavernous tooth repaired.  This one broke two yar back and it seems the next step will be a root canal if it breaks again anytime soon.  The Sun was out so I lightened a load of lowly lemons away from the posing possums pooing and peeing under the tree.  The lawns had not been touched for some weeks but running the mower over them didn't seem to do much.  A lady parked her car just out front and she interrupted my mowing to ask if it was ok to park there. Now this was a turnup. She said she felt safer parking it there yet was happy enough to wander off by herself for an hour or so.  I finished off  walking down there myself but could not be bothered picking any thing up as it was fairly clean anyway.

Tooth trouble

 Todays drama is a broken tooth which seems to happen every six months or so. There is nothing worse than that loud cracking sound from inside your mouth and I was only eating some soft raisin toast.  I have mentioned this before that there is one thing about country dentists as you can get in to see them in a hurry. I have an appointment for tomorrow morning. At least this did not happen over the weekend. I was considering some lawn mowing but that will have to wait. The grass here has not moved much in two months but the lemons have.  The tree is dripping with them. 

Fishing Village

 Time to go inside after two good days. However does that apply to tradies? I mean aren't they supposed to be tough workers, outside toilers and weather foilers.  Our maintenance man said it was too wet so  will have to finish another time.  Do we get a discount?  Debbie has been drawing, sketching and shading via an online instruction course. Maybe I should watch over her shoulder. So I tried another stamp design. There must be some reason I am picking out stamps from Africa lately. This country has been changed but the fishing village is still there on view.  Now exists as Malawi.  You can play spot the difference with this one.  I should time the effort, I'd say around 30 mins.

PS stamp is worth $11.

Blue Moon

 This is another Jack Reacher  "Don't mess with me or else" book.  I have no idea how the book's title relates to the crime gang clean up that goes on in this book.  It's not as if what Reacher does happens "once in a ..."  as he regularly messes up bad guys in an enthusiastic way.  The interview of Lee Child by GRRM  printed in the back, opens up a few more authors I can chase.  It seems Lee Child, Michael Connelly and Harlen Coben were in a startup writing class whom I have read lots, however there are others like Denis Lehane and George Pelecanos to check out.

Fog Dip

 It took a lot longer than the other day but eventually around 1:00pm the Sun broke through and the fog melted away.  Now that normally means there is no breeze to speak of, so going in the water was a possibility. I have been working up to this however in the end I went waste deep. The water was so clear and calm I could see every ripple on the sandy floor. Which means that there is an absence of sea grass.  Most of it seems to be balled up on shore but I have seen this situation before. I went out about 50 metres to get waste deep but the grass can grow quickly. It is a good clear expanse right now but in five months with warmer water it could be a jungle out there.

Three grounds walk

 There is a circuit in Willie that we have done numerous times and along the way there are three playgrounds.  Now mentioning this to the grandies is like dangling chocolate they just have to try it. There was the small matter of having some lunch first but with party pies and sausage rolls that was easy. Life is good at nana and pa's. Also all the bikes were present so they did not actually have to walk. Kaia is a speed demon and she does not have pedals. Estelle is a bit hampered by training wheels and Asher is fully competent.  It was a two hour exercise but they worked off the party pies.

Double Session

 I received a note saying google will automatically put links into my text that the AI deems interesting enough. I have turned it on to see what it does. This AI business is turning up everywhere. While the Willie haircut was going on I took myself off to the gym.  I started on the bike machine for 20 minutes then finished on the rowing machine for 10 minutes. The biking was 8km and the rowing was 2km so I took myself into the pool area for a warm down, which was more like a warm up. It takes me 10 strokes to get from one end of the pool to the other and I kept that going for about 10 minutes then got into the spa tub for another 10 minutes.  The whole session was at least an hour.  Look at all these links. I wonder where Willie haircut will take me.

passing Tassie boat

bike machine

rowing machine

Bird Flew

 Another day another sign, its magpie bombers.  I have had magpies chortling and chorusing in the early morning lately, say 6:00am, often earlier. Now they are swooping in right out side the garage door. I must have had just 10 pedal strokes when one hit. It was just a one off but I have been a target there in previous years. After that I was looking at every bird and every shadow as I had a bad crash a few years back on the down hill.  When I got back there were no birds to be seen, maybe becuase a neighbour was on his roof.